CHAPTER FOURTEEN
❝The moon looks upon many night flowers; the night flowers see but one moon.❞
Jean Ingelow
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Luna Clair is an intelligent girl. She's been top of her class since the first grade (in kindergarten, dear reader, she was too busy reading The Boxcar Children to care about assignments), got a full ride scholarship to GWU without much effort, and likes to read and study for fun, much to Nicky's astonishment.
But even she can't decode the look that Ahkmenrah's giving Kahmunrah. It's a mixture of hatred, shock, disappointment, and another emotion that is unidentifiable. Maybe it doesn't have a name. Luna realizes all too late that it's the sadness that comes from a boy disappointed in the older brother he always wanted but never had.
And furthermore, she's confused beyond belief at this prophecy thing. Khonsu's child... The healer and king... Selfless love... None of it makes sense, none at all. She's supposed to be in this prophecy, and she doesn't even understand it!
"Oh, I'm sorry, do you not like that story?" Kahmunrah pretends to be shocked. "Is it because it involves your naïve little girlfriend? Or is it because you might--?"
"Enough!" Ahkmenrah uses his pharaoh voice, and Luna has to admit, it's hot.
"Don't tell me what to do, little brother," Kahmunrah spits.
Ahkmenrah pulls Luna closer to him, and she leans her head on his shoulder, the touch of his skin against hers familiar, comforting, the press of his palm safe and protective.
And they wait.
They wait and wait. Occasionally Jed makes a sarcastic comment, sinking deeper and deeper into the sand, and Kahmunrah shakes his hourglass warningly, but other than that, the silence is deafening. Luna bounces her leg restlessly, wondering where Larry, Nicky, and Amelia are. If they're safe. If they're okay.
And then her phone buzzes in her pocket.
Ahkmenrah watches curiously as she pulls it out and looks at the screen. It's a text from Nicky.
Hang tight. On our way.
Luna exhales a long sigh of relief and shows the text to Ahkmenrah, who utters a quiet, "Thank the gods," and presses a lingering kiss to her temple. The butterflies in her stomach, who've chilled out with handholding, rear their heads at his touch.
"What?" Kahmunrah peers over at them, specifically at Luna's phone. "What is that strange box?"
"Welcome to the 21st century, dude." Luna waves her phone at him. "It's called an iPhone. My friend just texted me."
"What is a 'text'?" Kahmunrah squints confusedly at her.
"Ya look a little nervous there, Ramen Noodle," Jed calls up at him, almost completely buried in sand. "'Cause for me, this is like a spa treatment. Sand baths are really rejuvenating for the skin. Exfoliates."
When Kahmunrah doesn't respond, he tries another tactic. "Givin' up yet?"
"Not quite yet, no." Kahmunrah turns his attention to Jed at last. "In fact, let's see if we can't make time fly." And he hits the top of the hourglass hard with the palm of his hand. Sand shakes out faster onto Jed.
"No!" Luna springs to her feet, glow pulsing furiously. "Leave him alone!"
"Luna," Ahkmenrah says warningly.
And then there's an odd noise, like a giant can opener whirring ever closer. Kahmunrah looks up, frowning. "What is that funny sound?"
A prop airplane crashes through the stained glass window behind his throne, throwing both Kahmunrah and the hourglass holding Jed forward onto the floor. Ahkmenrah grabs Luna and pulls her into a corner, shielding her with his body, his hands on her waist pushing her into the wall. If they weren't in danger, she'd find this entirely too attractive.
There's a loud thud, another loud thud, and then a massive, glass-shattering crash. Luna squeezes her eyes shut, tightens her grip on Ahkmenrah's wrists--
When the dust clears, Ahkmenrah lets go of her (although hesitantly, reader, for he'd like nothing more than shove her up against the wall and kiss the hell out of her, but he is a gentleman) and they step tentatively out into the hall again.
Larry and Nicky are both lying on the floor, groaning, and the prop plane has crashed into the large glass case at the end of the hall. There's glass and wood and canvas everywhere, and Amelia's nowhere to be seen. Luna gasps and claps a hand to her mouth. Can a wax figure die?
Larry leaps to his feet, grabs the tablet from where it clattered onto the floor, and sprints toward the plane--
"STOP!"
Kahmunrah staggers to his feet, holding Jed's hourglass, pointing a threatening finger at Larry. "Right there please, Mr. Daley."
As Luna watches, Amelia peers around the side of the wreckage, winks at Larry, and then disappears again.
Nicky pulls himself to his feet and staggers over to Luna, who collides into his arms. He smells like smoke and--monkey?--but he's safe. She whispers, "Did you get the combination?"
Almost invisibly, he nods into her shoulder, then pulls away and mutters, "I think Amelia's got a plan."
Luna bites back a grin. Of course she does.
"Well, well, well, well." Kahmunrah strides toward Larry triumphantly. "You certainly know how to make an entrance, Mr. Daley. I hope for your little friend's sake here--" He shakes Jed's hourglass menacingly-- "that you also figured out the combination."
"Give me Jed!" Larry reaches for the hourglass, but Kahmunrah yanks it out of reach.
"Oh, no, no, no. First give me the combination and hand over that tablet."
"I'll give you the tablet and the combination when you release my friends--" Larry points to Luna and Ahkmenrah-- "and give Jed back to me."
"I shall release what I want to release the moment I want to release it," Kahmunrah sneers, turning his nose up importantly.
"Great." Larry shrugs. "And I'll release what I want to release at the exact moment I want to release it, okay?"
"Tell me the combination and give me that tablet right now," Kahmunrah hisses, "or I shall kill all of your friends, starting with the little shaggy-haired little cowman here."
"I ain't shaggy-headed!" Jed sounds genuinely offended. "Gigantor, let me take this guy!"
"Don't worry, I got this handled." Larry squares his shoulders, looks Kahmunrah in the face. "You don't want to give me my friends, then you're not gonna get your combination or your tablet."
"Oh, gods." Ahkmenrah rubs the bridge of his nose, sighing.
"All right," Kahmunrah changes gears suddenly; he sounds sort of pleasant now. "I'll tell you what. They didn't call me Kahmunrah the Trustworthy for nothing. Here you go." He offers Larry the hourglass.
Luna opens her mouth to say something surprised, but the minute Larry reaches for it, Kahmunrah snatches it back with a triumphant grin on his face. "They didn't call me Kahmunrah the Trustworthy! They called me--"
"God, I hope they called you Kahmunrah the Petty-Ass, because that'd be the most accurate title," Luna calls over to him. She's had enough of this back and forth. It's time to do something.
"Shut up!" Kahmunrah roars, very, very red in the face. "Now give me the combination!"
"We already got the combination."
Al Capone struts into the hall, flanked by Ivan the Terrible and Napoleon, and he's holding a tiny, bobblehead Einstein in his hand. "3.14159265. See, Crazy Hair here, he sang." He pokes the little Einstein hard in the head. "Oh, did he sing! Like a canary."
"I'm sorry, Larry," Einstein mutters, looking extremely ashamed.
"Enough out of you!" Capone growls, clenching his fist. "Remember what happened last time?" And he thumps Einstein in the nose.
"Hey! That's enough," Larry says, though he doesn't sound fully confident.
Kahmunrah snatches the tablet from his grasp and throws the hourglass behind him. Larry leaps to catch it, but he won't get there in time--
Luna shuts her eyes--
The tablet glows to life in Kahmunrah's hands--
And Jed's hourglass floats right into Larry's arms.
Luna opens her eyes, the glow humming loudly inside her.
Kahmunrah stares right at her. "What in the name of Sekhmet was that?"
Oh, no. Luna's just given herself away. She didn't even think about the possibility that her powers could unlock the Gate, but Kahmunrah definitely is. And he's walking toward her with a malicious gleam in his eye.
Ahkmenrah pulls her closer to him, squeezing her hand tightly.
"Oh, I see," says Kahmunrah, sneering at her. "Reborn life... I get it now. You control time, is that it?" He looks over at Larry and Capone, both of whom look slightly surprised. "Must be a real bummer for you two, knowing that all your efforts were for not. Now that I know this girl--" And he grabs Luna's arm, pulling her toward the Gate and away from Ahkmenrah-- "and the tablet are connected, I don't need the combination. She will unlock the underworld for me."
"Like hell I will," Luna growls, struggling to get her arm free, but Kahmunrah's stronger than she imagined: his grip is like a vice on her upper arm.
"Let her go!" Ahkmenrah shouts.
Kahmunrah ignores him. He drags Luna to the gate, shoves the tablet into the recess in the door, and wrenches her arm around painfully. Luna cries out as he bends her arm almost backward, trying to place her hand on the center square of the tablet.
But she fights, stalling for time. Kahmunrah hisses curses at her in Egyptian, but Luna doesn't care. When she moved the hourglass before, the tablet showed her a vision. Amelia's bringing help with her. Luna just has to give her time.
Ahkmenrah yells for Kahmunrah to stop. Kahmunrah kicks Luna in her ribs. It's sharp, painful. She sucks in a breath and kicks back at his legs, doing everything she can to keep him from making her touch the gate--
And then her finger brushes the center square.
Her head flies back.
Sand-- Hot sun-- A throne-- Screams-- A sharp knife--
Kahmunrah's chanting in Egyptian. He's released her arm, but there's still pain. Luna feels fire all over her body. Her head throbs. The floor is cool against her face.
And then there are hands, pulling her upright, lifting her, and a voice. "Luna, can you hear me? Luna, are you okay?"
"Nicky..." Her mouth is dry. She just watched Ahkmenrah die.
Nicky holds her up, her arm half around his neck, pulling her away from the gate, where Kahmunrah stands, arms outstretched, eyes closed. And then there's another set of arms on her other side, holding her tightly, smelling of almond and cinnamon. Ahkmenrah. Luna clings to him, grateful that he's alive.
And then the carved sarcophagus that holds the tablet moves. It slides out from the door. The tablet glows brightly. It burns inside of Luna. She stumbles, and Nicky and Ahkmenrah catch her, holding her up.
The gate creaks open, revealing a bright light. Luna shields her eyes, attempting to stand on her own. Her legs feel broken, but she pushes Nicky away, stumbling forward. The glow inside her is keeping her upright, forcing her forward. She has to do something.
A great, shrieking mass looks like it's flying straight toward them through the gate. Kahmunrah opens his eyes, sighing triumphantly. "Welcome to the new, extended reign of Kahmunrah," he says. "Fifth king of Egypt and now the world!" And he turns back to the gate. "Horus, Ra, my warriors, come forth! Send Larry Daley and his friends to their doom."
Not if I have anything to say about it. Luna plants her feet firmly, ready to use her powers to send his warriors back into the underworld.
The warriors materialize out of the gate. They're half bird, half man--the traditional image of the god Horus--and carry large, sharp-looking spears. Shrieking, they march out in droves, circling Larry and Jed three times over, and completely ignoring Luna, Nicky, and Ahkmenrah.
Kahmunrah shouts a command in Egyptian and they wield their spears, pointing them directly at Larry.
"HALT!" cries a very familiar voice.
Luna turns around and sees Octavius, in the middle of the floor, riding on the back of a squirrel. She has to admit, it's kind of hilarious, but it's not the time to laugh.
"Forward now, my mighty steed!" Octavius cries, and spurs the squirrel forward, charging toward Kahmunrah. It skids to a stop right in front of Kahmunrah, and Octavius looks up at him. "Do you wish to surrender honorably?" he asks commandingly. "Or must this end with the spilling of your blood?"
Kahmunrah looks over at Larry with an incredulous expression on his face. "This? This is your big rescue?"
"Oh, no," Octavius laughs. "This is!"
As if on cue, a massive statue of Abraham Lincoln comes crashing through the shattered stained glass window. The Horus warriors jump back, frightened, leaving a path for Lincoln to walk right up to Larry.
"What is that thing?" Kahmunrah asks, shocked.
"The name is Abraham Lincoln," says Lincoln politely.
"What's an 'Abraham Lincoln'?"
"The 16th President of the United States, bitch." Luna grins. The battle has begun.
The Horus warriors throw their spears at Lincoln, which does nothing. He flicks them away as if they were pests. The rest of the warriors decide to have nothing to do with Lincoln and sprint back through the gate to the underworld.
Kahmunrah stutters orders to them, stunned, but they pay him no mind.
"Goodbye, strange birdmen," says Lincoln, waving the rest of them on.
"Do not return to the Underworld!" Kahmunrah shouts.
"Yes, yes, do go back into the Underworld!" says Octavius with a shit-eating grin on his face. "Thank you for coming! Good night!"
The Horus warriors close the gate behind them, shutting it neatly, and the carved sarcophagus sinks right back into place.
Luna stumbles over to the gate and grabs the tablet. It glows happily to life in her hands and she sighs as it erases all the pain she feels.
"It appears my work here is done," says Lincoln, dusting his hands off nicely. "Just remember, son, a house divided against itself cannot stand. Farewell!" And he retreats back through the window, shattering even more of the beautiful glass. Luna's not worried about it; she'll fix it later.
"What now?" asks Ivan the Terrible, somewhat awkwardly.
"You know, I'm not quite sure," says Kahmunrah, also awkwardly. "I suppose we should probably start by watching him die." He points to Larry, whose eyes widen.
"Streltsy!" Ivan grins. "Make him dead!"
Larry backs away, but then a very familiar trumpet sounds. Luna closes her eyes and makes time move just a little faster. Amelia leads the way into the room, followed by Sacagawea, Attila, the Huns, the Neanderthals, the Tuskegee Airmen, the cherubim, Dexter, what looks like the Thinker, General Custer, and the giant octopus from earlier.
"We are not going to attack!" shouts Custer, from atop a magnificent horse. "Right...now!"
And the whole group erupts into a loud cheer and charges Kahmunrah and his army.
Ahkmenrah grabs Luna's arm and pulls her out of the way of Custer's horse, narrowly avoiding him. "Come on," he says, wresting a sword from one of the Egyptian soldiers. "Let's fight!"
And they charge into battle. Ahkmenrah duels with one of the Russian guards, while Luna uses her powers to make it easier on everyone else. She sends two French soldiers colliding into one another, another Russian guard up on top of the gate with his tunic over his head, and an Egyptian soldier straight into the tentacles of the octopus, who looks happy to receive a snack.
Nicky ends up fighting Napoleon (and winning!), while Amelia goes hand-to-hand with one of Capone's men, who seems very offended to be fighting a woman. Luna makes sure he slaps himself a couple of times, eliciting a saucy grin from Amelia.
The glow fuels Luna. It's like she knows exactly what to do at all times, knows where everyone will move and where to move them. She can't lose.
Attila's swarmed by five men at once, so Luna backs them up--all to the same spot. They trip over themselves, landing in a heap at his feet. He flashes her a big thumbs-up, grinning.
Ahkmenrah and Luna fly through the crowd, dueling and sending men everywhere flying (that's mostly Luna, dear reader), and then an arm reaches through and grabs Luna, pulling her behind a pillar. It's Larry and he looks determined. "Hey, when I give the signal, I want you to freeze all of Kahmunrah's guys."
"You've got a plan?" Luna pants, attempting to catch her breath.
"I'm gonna divide the house." Larry nods, and then races off again.
But that doesn't last long, because in five minutes, Kahmunrah has his curved sword to Larry's throat. Luna sends two more Egyptian soldiers into the octopus's tentacles, attempting to get to him, but then one of Capone's men pulls his gun. She sighs and shoves him backward into Attila's reach with a flick of her wrist.
"...because now I shall have the tremendous pleasure of killing you myself!" Kahmunrah growls, and he raises his sword--
Only to have it stopped, right in midair.
Luna holds her hand out, keeping it steady, freezing only Kahmunrah's sword where it is, poised above Larry's chest.
His jaw drops. "You..."
"That's right, asshole." Luna walks slowly toward him. (Reader, if only this were an action movie and she could have a badass Scarlet Witch-looking suit on...) "Me." Behind the two of them, Amelia's fitting the tablet into the gate. Luna just has to stall.
"Let me go!"
"What, so you can kill Larry?" Luna rolls her eyes. "Not a chance. And anyway, it's much too fun turning the tables on you. Now who's in charge?"
Amelia pulls the gate open, nodding to Larry and Luna. Show's over. So Luna leans right up close to Kahmunrah, so they're almost nose-to-nose. "This is payback for what you did to Ahkmenrah, you coward."
"Who are you?" he whispers, eyes wide, darting between Larry and Luna.
"I'm the night guard," Larry says quietly.
"And I'm sending you home, you bitch," says Luna. (It's cliché, reader, but it's also badass.)
With a flick of her wrist, Kahmunrah goes flying back through the gate into the underworld, along with all of his soldiers, and with a twitch of her other hand, every single French soldier, gangster, and Russian guard goes still, frozen in time.
Amelia slams the gate shut and the tablet fades back into stillness.
All is quiet for one single moment.
And then the room erupts into cheers.
Luna collides into Ahkmenrah's arms, exhausted suddenly but happy. Her friends are safe, Kahmunrah is no more, and the night is almost over.
Ahkmenrah whispers, "I'm so proud of you," and Luna just holds him tighter, breathes in the familiarity of him.
"We've got an hour till sunrise," Nicky says, touching Luna gently. "We've got to get these guys back."
"In case you forgot, they don't want us there anymore," Jed calls from beside Octavius.
"Well, I do," says Larry.
"And so do I," Luna adds, and Nicky nods, smiling.
Ahkmenrah's hand tightens on her waist, and Luna takes it as a 'thank you'.
Ten minutes later, they're on Amelia's Lockheed Vega 5B--Nicky whispers all this excitedly in Luna's ear--and Luna suddenly feels the exhaustion wash over her in a wave. She leans her head on Ahkmenrah's shoulder, yawning, her whole body aching. Moving time takes a lot out of you.
Amelia lands perfectly in front of the museum in New York, and Ahkmenrah helps Luna out of the plane first, the Neanderthals right behind them. He stops her right before they open the doors. "I've got to talk to you."
"Ahk, we've only got--" Luna checks her watch-- "twenty minutes before sunrise. What--?"
"It's important," Ahkmenrah says, his eyes deadly serious. "Please."
Luna lets him lead her through the lobby and into his tomb, before he stops her, holding both her hands in his. "It's about the prophecy."
✦✧✦
well that's a lovely cliffhanger, isn't it?
also, thank y'all all so much for 3k! i'm so happy some of y'all love this story as much as i do.
q: worst natm character of all time?
a: actually i always hated larry's wife. she was so annoying, although she did score with paul rudd, ngl.